Acta neurologica BelgicaOct 2, 2019

Bright light therapy using a head-mounted device for anxiety, depression, sleepiness, and fatigue in Parkinson’s disease patients

Circadian Biology Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Mar 28, 2026

Abstract

In a study of 16 patients with Parkinson's disease, no significant changes were observed in anxiety or fatigue scores after bright light therapy.

Bright light therapy (BLT) was tested for its effects on depression, anxiety, daytime sleepiness, and fatigue in patients with Parkinson's disease.
The study was designed as a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with a crossover approach.
No significant changes were found in anxiety or fatigue scores after both BLT and placebo treatments.
Daytime sleepiness scores decreased non-significantly after BLT, but a post hoc analysis indicated a significant decrease in sleepiness for patients with higher baseline scores.
Future research may explore the impact of BLT specifically in patients experiencing greater daytime sleepiness.

Simplified

The beneficial effects of bright light therapy (BLT) on the disabling non-motor symptoms of Parkinson's disease (PD) remain uncertain. The objective of this study was to investigate if daily BLT, with a head-mounted device (Luminette), has a beneficial effect on depression, anxiety, daytime sleepiness and fatigue in patients with PD. In this double-blind, placebo-controlled study, 16 patients with PD were randomized to receive either 1 month of BLT or 1 month of placebo therapy, separated by a 2-week washout period, in a crossover fashion. Patients completed questionnaires for the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and the Fatigue Impact Scale (FIS) before and after each treatment period. The primary outcome measures were changed from baseline in scores between treatment groups. No significant changes were observed in the HADS anxiety scores and FIS scores after BLT and after placebo. The ESS scores decreased non-significantly only after BLT. A post hoc analysis of patients who had baseline ESS scores > 11 revealed a significantly greater decrease in ESS scores after BLT than after placebo. Future studies investigating the effect of BLT on sleepiness could focus specifically on patients with high ESS scores. ®

Full Text

Full text is available at the source.

View Full Text ↗

Bright light therapy using a head-mounted device for anxiety, depression, sleepiness, and fatigue in Parkinson’s disease patients

Abstract

Full Text

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief

Abstract

Full Text

Related papers

You found one interesting study. We’ll send the next 7.

What Lands in Your Inbox Each Week:

Recent issues from the circadian biology brief